This is optimal Living Daily Activity Is Not Accomplishment by Carl Pullein of Carlpolean.com, and I'm Justin Mollie, very own personal narrator. Today and every day me narrating means there are no interviews, just a short podcast where we can both improve our lives one day at a time. So with that, let's get right to today's post and start optimizing your life. Activity Is Not Accomplishment by Carl Pollin of Carlpoline.com I've spent many years using some kind of to do list to manage my tasks, projects and time.
Being able to see what I have to do on a list is both satisfying and helpful as it has always given me a view of what needs to be done on any given day. However, I have discovered there are to do lists and then there are great to do lists. Normal to do lists help you get things done and contribute towards your feeling of dizziness and stress. Great to do lists help you to move your life forward in achieving your life goals, help you feel in complete control of what is important in your life, and give you an overall sense of real accomplishment.
Normal to do lists are simply lists of all the things you have identified that need to be done. These can be things like reply to email, prepare the monthly purchase list, or buy dog food on the way home. Great to do lists are different of course. They still contain the things you have to do for that day, but they also focus on an additional component that normal to do lists ignore and that is the things you want to achieve in your life both professionally and personally.
This is why simply having a single list of tasks that you add to when a new task comes in and cross off once a task has been completed is only half the story. Turning your to do list into a list that helps you accomplish great things is easy to do. All you need to do is identify three things you could do that day that would have a significant impact on your overall life goals. They do not have to be huge things either.
They could be simple tasks that move you forward towards something bigger than just maintaining your life where it is right now. For example, if one of your life goals is to write a book, then sitting down at some point in the day and writing out a character sketch of one of the characters you like in your book would move you closer to writing a book. This type of task might only take 20 minutes, but it does take you closer towards the goal of writing the book you've always wanted to write. You might have a task to go for a 30 minute walk at lunchtime, and this would take you a little bit closer to losing the 5kg you plan to lose this year.
It's these little tasks that soon build up into something significant in your life. Of course, to do this, you need to identify what is important to you in your life and what you really want to accomplish. Not knowing what you want out of life is like embarking on a journey not knowing where you want to go. While the adventure might be exciting, there's always a 5050 chance you'll be disappointed with the destination.
It's far better to have a clear idea of where you want to go and to have a reasonably good idea of how you're going to get there. The journey is just as exciting. To identify what is important, you need to take some time to find out. I also know as time passes, our dreams and goals change and something we identified as a goal last year may no longer be that important to us today.
This is fine. Indeed. This is perfectly normal. Our goals, aspirations and dreams will change as we gain more experience in life.
They change when we get married, they change when we have children, and they often change when we change jobs. Change is an inevitability of life. Once you've identified what is really important to you, then you should spend a few minutes at the end of the day to flag the three things you can do tomorrow that will take you a little closer to achieving that goal. Or dream.
Something as simple as putting $10 in your savings account would take you a little closer to buying the Jaguar F type you dream of owning. Or setting aside one hour at the end of the day to spend with your daughter would give you some of that quality time you keep promising you would have with your daughter. Too often we confuse ticking off a lot of tasks on a to do list with accomplishment. But the truth is, if those tasks do not move you closer to your goals and dreams, then you're not accomplishing very much at all.
These tasks might help you keep your life where it is right now, but I'm sure you want far more from your life than to stay where you are right now. To change that, make sure each day you have at least two or three things on your list that are flagged and drive you towards your goals and dreams. Doing this means you're accomplishing significant things every single day and before long you have what you want out of life. Writing 500 words every day for your book means means you'll have written a 60,000 word novel in a little over four months.
Not bad at all. I'm sure you'll agree you can test this out this week. What is on your mind that you want to change about you now? Add a task each day to your task list that takes you closer to that change.
Doing a simple task each day for a whole week would take you significantly closer to the outcome you desire. This could be something like repairing a damaged friendship. You start with texting an apology and asking if you could talk. Making that first contact could change everything.
If it does not, you could try something else. Or it could be doing some online research into a master's degree course you would like to take. Finding out which universities do the course and whether or not they offer a correspondence course. All these little things take you closer to your desired outcome.
I believe anything is possible if we put our mind to it and do something that takes us towards that outcome every day. You just need to identify what that something is and make sure it is on your daily to do list and is flagged. Set aside some time this week, have a think about your long term goals and see what you can do each day that will bring these goals closer to achievement. This is a far better way of using a to do list than the regular way.
Most people use their to do lists. Lists of stuff they have to do just to stay where they are today. Start turning your activity into accomplishment. You just listened to the post titled Activity is Not Accomplishment by Carl Pullein of Carlpoolin.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.
I'm constantly thinking about how to optimize my health, what supplements to take hours of sleep, what my diet should focus on. Superpower finally takes the guessing out of it. One simple lab test covers over 100 biomarkers and their app gives you a complete picture of your heart, liver, hormones, metabolism, even environmental toxins. Plus it used to cost $499.
Right now it's just $199. And head to superpower.com and use code old at checkout for an additional $20 off your membership. Thank you to Carl. He's narrated more often over on Optimal Work Daily so you can check out that show for more from him.
I'm sure we've both had that feeling where we crossed off a bunch of tasks and felt productive, only to realize at the end of the day that we haven't really moved forward in any significant way. We feel like we're in the same spot really. I don't think I'm the only one. It can feel great in the moment though to cross something off, but then longer term, it can feel a bit empty.
Like he said, I think we have to first know what's actually important for us. It's kind of like minimalism. It's all about figuring out what truly matters and then letting go of the rest. And then if you have that down, I think the tip to write three things each day that move you closer to your goals is a great place to start.
If it's too much, just write down one. It's better than nothing. For me, it's usually some type of exercise, whether physical or mental, like meditation, and putting it on the calendar makes it so much more likely to happen. I highly recommend trying that if you're not already.
Let me know what works for you. Thank you for being here every day. Have a great weekend and I'll catch you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.